Did you know that;

* The name of Cappadocia, means the land of beautiful horses

* The longest river in Turkey, the Kizilirmak, known to classical scholars as the Halys, flows through Cappadocia.

* Einkorn, the earliest domesticated wheat, can still be found growing wild in Cappadocia.

* People have been making pottery in Avanos, Cappadocia, for 10,000 years.

* The oldest skull operation, trepanation, was carried out at Asikli Hoyuk, near Ihlara in Cappadocia, in Neolithic times.

* Wine was produced in the Cappadocia region as early as 4,000 BCE.

* The Silk Road came through Cappadocia, and there are 7 Seljuk caravanserais on the Silk Road in Cappadocia well worth visiting.

* The most important Assyrian Trade Colony city on the Silk Road, Kultepe (Karum), is just outside Kayseri, Cappadocia.

* The Cappadocia region has about 30 known underground cities that could safely hide 100,000 people in troubled times.

* The world’s highest concentration of millstone doors, used for safety in cave houses and underground cities, is in Cappadocia.

* There are 7 wine houses in Cappadocia, and all produce high quality wine.

* Cappadocia has the world largest number of cave churches, many with in-situ frescos.

* Goreme Open Air Museum, where the best cave churches with frescos are concentrated, is on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

* Three of the greatest fathers of the Christian Church, Saint Basil, Saint Gregory of Nazianzus, and Saint Gregory of Nyssa, were all Cappadocians.

* Saint George the dragon slayer was born in Cappadocia, and his fame spread to Europe and the world when soldiers returned from the crusades.

* The highest quality Turkish onyx is mined in Cappadocia.

* More than half of Turkey’s potato crop comes from Cappadocia

* One of the world’s biggest reserves of pumice stone is in Cappadocia.

* One of Turkey’s best skiing resorts, Mount Erciyes, is in Cappadocia.

* Cappadocia is the biggest centre for hand-made carpets in Turkey today.

* You can get married on a balloon trip in Cappadocia !